“There is truth in each of us, but to see some of it we should be humble enough to accept that it is too big that we could get to see it all.”
Brian Goodwin, 25th March 1931 – 15th July 2009.
These are some of the last words our MSc in Holistic Science student, Mabel Toribio, hurriedly scribbled down one spring day last March, just before she left Schumacher College for Mexico to continue her dissertation research. She wondered whether Brian believed that there are universal truths. This was part of his answer to her.
Thanks to Mabel for sending this to us, because of all the quotes we could have used from Brian’s published works, this is so very fitting. Anyone who met Brian was greeted by a quality of gentle humility made all the more potent in the light of his considerable intellectual standing. Humility, he argued, is a quality people in the 21st century need to develop, and fast. Humility before nature, to work “in sensitive participation” with the natural world, and to realise that:
“Nature and Culture are One, Not Two … The Great Work, the Magnum Opus, in which we are now inexorably engaged, is a cultural transformation that will either carry us into a new age on earth or will result in our disappearance from the planet. The choice is in our hands … This Gaian Renaissance will lead to what Thomas Berry calls the Ecozoic Age, in which all inhabitants of the planet are governed by principles of Earth Jurisprudence in an Earth Democracy. We can all experience lives of meaning and know that indeed there is no truth beyond the magic of creative participation in the life of the cosmos that embodies the liberation of Chaos, the abundance of Gaia, and the love or Eros.”
Nature’s Due: Healing Our Fragmented Culture, Brian Goodwin, Floris Books 2007. Reproduced with kind permission of the publishers.
Satish Kumar, co-founder of Schumacher College and founder and editor of Resurgence:
Brian was not only a great scientist of our time, but he was also a sage. He had little ego and big generosity. He was approachable, humble and always available for his students and his friends. His contribution to Schumacher College was immense. He brought authority, authenticity and profoundness to our work. He will be greatly missed.
While we are all deeply saddened that Brian is no longer with us while we carry on our Great Work, we will and must keep on. Now, more than ever, we must ensure that the work Brian fervently inspired so many people to do, will continue and flourish. As he always used to say, “we are here to serve the Earth, and each other.”
Stephan Harding, Resident Ecologist and Co-ordinator of the MSc in Holistic Science:
I remember Brian’s first visit to the College. It was with Vandana Shiva, and he gave a brilliant talk on the limitations of the neo-Darwinist paradigm that gave me a new way of seeing the world. Brian kept coming back, eventually to found the MSc in Holistic Science, a task in which I happily helped him. We did it together, and for the past twelve years or so of our teaching and talking together it was always a joy to work with him. There was never any conflict. He had a kind, gentle wisdom, an ability to listen, and an intelligence that never failed to move me and anyone else who met him. He was much more than merely a scientist – it is no exaggeration to say that in his later days he had become a sage. He had discovered how to live a happy life and knew how to make others happy too. He gave of himself without reservation. I feel that he lives on as one of the great ones – as an ancestor. He’s always there, ready to listen and to share his gentle wisdom. Be at peace, my dear friend Brian. How lucky I was to have known you.
Stephan wrote Brian’s obituary published by The Independent on 30th July.
The Guardian’s obituary by Walter Schwartz, published 9th August.
In honour of Brian, The Brian Goodwin Trust is being set up to provide scholarships for students inspired to study holistic science and who are motivated to serve the planet. We will include further details about this scholarship as soon as possible.
